SWOSU women’s basketball coach Kelsi Musick has been at SWOSU for 11 seasons and she said this job is a dream which came true.
“Weatherford and SWOSU have been great to my family and we consider it home,” Musick said. “Ever since I became the women’s coach at SWOSU, we started from the ground up. I love the community, the town and especially SWOSU and l love being part of the SWOSU family. I love my players and love what I get to do.”
Musick said basketball is more than just a game to her.
“I am extremely competitive and compassionate in what I do,” Musick said. “I love coaching basketball and molding these student athletes into better young women for their future, not just on the basketball court.”
Musick said there is so much work which goes into preparing for a basketball season in the offseason and during practice.
“I get to compete behind the scenes,” Musick said. “I get to put a quality product on the basketball court. It is so fun to see all the hard work we put in the offseason and in practice pay off on the basketball court.”
Musick said if there is anything she wants her players to learn while playing basketball at SWOSU, it is how to handle adversity and how to overcome it.
“I want them to be able to take some of the things they learned on the court and apply them to life,” Musick said. “When life gets tough, they can remember when basketball practice got tough and how they were able to get through it and overcome any challenges. When hard things happen, they have been in pressure situations and playing basketball at SWOSU will help them get through life.”
Musick said she has so many memories of coaching and playing basketball, it is hard for her to choose what her favorite is.
“From the coaching side, one of our best memories was playing in the national championship two seasons ago,” Musick said. “The first Great American Conference championship we won in 2012 was really special. That same season, I remember the Oyler twins saying we are going to win three games in one weekend. This was a strong statement because we had only won three games in the previous season. Winning the Central Regional at Fort Hays State in front of all their fans was a special moment and those are just a few of many special memories.”
Musick has learned a lot about herself as a person from being a basketball coach.
“I have learned to have thicker skin, which was a challenge when I first started,” Musick said. “I always say, When you stop learning and growing, you fail.’ I refuse to stop learning and growing and bettering myself.”
Musick said she also has learned how to adapt to her players and get the best out of each and every one of them.
“I find this is a challenge as well, but I embrace it,” Musick said. “Each player is so different and not every player leanrs the same.”
Musick said her best friend is the assistant coach Cophie Anderson and she considers it a blessing getting to do what she loves right next to her best friend. Anderson and Musick have both been at SWOSU since 2009.
“Having coach Anderson by my side for 11 years does not happen very often,” Musick said. “At this level, it is so tough to have an assistant coach stay this long as most coaches leave for a higher-level job. Our kids hang out together often and it really is special to have an assistant coach like coach Anderson.”
Musick is from Canton and graduated from Canton High School in 1998. She played basketball and took her talents to Cameron University, where she was a 4-year starter for the Aggies from 1998- 2002 at point guard.
While at Cameron, she set school records in career 3-point average and assists while being a President’s Leadership Scholar at the school. Her final season in 2001-02, the Aggies set a school record by winning 25 games and made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
After she graduated from Cameron, she returned to Canton to coach them for two seasons. In her second season at Canton, she had her team in the Class A Regional Tournament in 2006-07 before finishing with a 16-9 record.
After coaching at Canton and before coming to SWOSU, she was an assistant coach at Fresno State University for two seasons where she was part of a staff which posted consecutive 20-win seasons. Fresno State won the Western Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles in each of her last years and finished 24-9 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2008-09 before being eliminated by California.
Musick is married to former SWOSU strength and conditioning coach Josh Musick. The couple lives in Weatherford with their two sons, Maddox and Titus.